For DUI, Personal Costs Are High [via Balko]
The Washington Post has an sympathetic piece on what happens to someone after they're convicted of a DUI in Virginia. It has some interesting tidbits of information (72-94% of DUI convictions are first-time offenders), but for the most part is a human interest story on some down-on-their-luck folks who made it worse by getting arrested for driving drunk. I notice that my sympathy for the drivers is inversely corrolated with their BAC. The first woman, in particular, I felt quite bad for (particularly considering that she fell below the .1 BAC limit that I consider better than the .08). There are some interesting thoughts from Radley Balko, too, if you wish to follow that link.

Revising "The Deal"
According to an article in the WSJ, Microsoft has gotten where it is largely on the backs of its highly talented employees. They brought them in with "The Deal" (unremarkable salary, long hours, obscenely valuable stock options), but they've lost traction in that regard and some of the recent changes over there are in an attempt to win the Young IQ wars.

Earth-like planets may be more rare than thought [via Judd]
The notion that our planet and our solar system are a dime a dozen if we can just look out far enough is being disputed. The author (and Orrin Judd) make suggestions that if this is true it could mean that we're alone in the universe. It could, but that makes an assumption that what other life may be out there would be comparable to life on Earth, of which we have no idea. for my part, I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking of what other life out there might exist because there are just too many variables. Wouldn't the most frustrating thing for both sides of the issue be to discover that there is life, but it exists in a way completely incompatible with communication or even comparison?

Mormon Renewal Creates a Stir in an Illinois Town
The LDS was not-so-gently kicked out of Illinois en-route to Utah. Nauvoo, the former LDS capital, has been experiencing a resurgence that's unwelcome among many of its current residents. The town's mayor even stepped down because he didn't like where the town was headed, speculating that the mayorship and council will all be Mormon before too long.

DVD Player Focus in Alaska Murder Trial [via Volokh]
The driver was allegedly watching a DVD when he got into an accident that ended in the death of another driver. If they can demonstrate with relative certainty that he was, in fact, watching the DVD, then I can't say I have a problem with charging it as fiercely (or moreso) than a drunk driver. My only fear is that having a jerry-rigged DVD player will create a presumption of guilt. But without that presumption (in this case, the driver allegedly told his ex that he was watching the DVD, but that will not be the case once this sort of thing becomes more publicized), it's darn near difficult to prove that.

Source: National Atlas
An awesome mapping program put out by the government. You have layers for just about everything you could possibly want from weather to politics to demographics.